Kelsey didn’t run.
Instead she crouched in the dark, listening, her heart pounding so hard she could barely breathe. Within seconds of Alex leaving, the cabin’s roof burst into flames. She heard one gunshot and then another. Men’s voices shrieked over the roar of the fire. Hugging the weapon to her breast, her knees shook so much she could barely stand.
A man’s voice screamed, “Shooter. We got a shooter. Ain’t no one even in that cabin.”
Her heart dropped. That voice. No. It couldn’t be.
Two more shots followed in quick succession, and then another familiar voice cackled, “I got him boys. I got that Stewart fella.”
It couldn’t be—them. Both of them?
She couldn’t leave. She crept through the brush to the front of the burning cabin where she saw four men sprawled on the ground while another four stood over Alex’s prone figure by the fire pit. Her heart sank. Nick Durrant stood in the clearing with two men she didn’t recognize. One was a big man, bald with his arms covered in tattoos. The other was average size with a Mohawk, but the fourth wasn’t a man at all. It was an older woman with a short, squatty body and gray stringy hair. Ethel Durrant, Nick’s hateful mother. Kelsey cringed. Her two worst enemies were here, and they had Alex.
“I’ll teach you,” the bald man yelled down at Alex’s unconscious form. “You go shooting my guys like that. Who do you think you are?” He tied Alex’s hands and feet, then tossed a rope over the nearest tree branch. Within minutes, Alex was hanging by his arms. Kelsey stifled a cry. He looked unconscious, or dead.
The man turned to the trees. “Okay, sweetheart. I know you’re out there watching. Why don’t you come on in so we can get acquainted? We got your boyfriend. If you want him to live, you’ll get your butt down here and you’ll do it now.” He stabbed a pointed finger to the ground at his feet. “You hearing me?”
She shivered. He had called to her like he knew right where she stood. She was a kindergarten teacher, not a marksman. The only things she had ever killed were paper targets at the range. That’s all. She couldn’t take her eyes off Alex. He hadn’t moved.
Nick joined the taunting chorus. “Yeah, sweetheart. Look what I’m gonna do.” With a quick slash of his hunting knife, he peeled the buttons off Alex’s shirt and cut a single thin line across his chest. Droplets of blood ran from the wound.
No. Stop.
The bald man flashed a massive hunting knife over his head. “You see this little blade? I ain’t never skinned a boyfriend before, but I’m gonna like doing this guy, ‘specially since he just killed four of my boys.”
She froze. Common sense screamed RUN! She didn’t. She couldn’t. They had Alex.
“Git your dumb ass down here,” Nick bellowed. “It’s time you get what’s coming to you.”
The bald man glared at Nick. “Thought you said she’s mine.”
“You stupid or what, Buck? I git her first. She’s my ex.” Nick jabbed his thumb into his chest.
Kelsey gulped in disbelief. Nick had bartered her away like chattel.
“Listen fool. I got four dead men. You get nothing.” Buck drew his knife on Nick. “How about I kill this guy here and now, then start on you?”
Kelsey blew out a fast breath. Her heart pounded in her ears. There was no choice. She emerged from the dark, her pistol pointed at Nick. Both men shut up. Buck grunted as his eyes raked Kelsey up and down. She tried to hold the SIG steady. Now was not the time to miss. Alex needed her.
Nick squinted. “That you, Kelsey?”
“Let him down,” she commanded, her voice wavering nearly as much as her hands.
Buck slapped his thigh. “This is your ex? You didn’t say she was a looker.”
“Yeah. She’s my ex.” The excitement was gone from Nick’s voice as he eyed Kelsey’s gun.
“Man, you and me gonna have us a good time, little girl. Maybe you’re worth losing four men. What ya think?” Buck all but jumped up and down. He licked his lips, his eyes bright with anticipation.
“Whatever,” Nick answered, more subdued than he had been all night. “She’s got a gun.”
“I said let him down,” Kelsey repeated, licking her lips at the nightmare in front of her. Alex had not moved an inch.
“What you gonna do?” Buck taunted as he walked over to the rope that held Alex upright. With a jerk of his wrist, he unwound it, dropping Alex to the ground with a thud. Buck turned to Kelsey, his eyes bright and cruel. He closed his eyes and sniffed the air, his head tilted back as he took a deep breath. “I can smell you from here, little girl,” he growled. “Oh, man. I can hardly wait.”
Her knees turned weak. This man was an animal. She took one look at Alex and righted the shaky pistol in her hands. Everything was up to her now. She could do it.
Buck winked at her slyly, his nose still twitching. “Why don’t you just put that thing down and come to daddy? Let’s get this party started.”
“I said put him down.” Kelsey racked the slide. She knew how to handle a gun now. A nine-millimeter cartridge slid into the chamber as her blood pressure spiked. There were four of them. Alex had killed four of their friends. It was up to her to kill the other four—or die trying. That’s what Alex would do.
“You’re as dumb as your old man,” Buck muttered. “Say I let this guy down, little girl. Now what? Or maybe I don’t want to let him down.” He turned to the guy with the Mohawk. “Stand him up, Jess. One. More. Time.”
Jess grabbed the rope, jerking Alex back to his feet. His head rolled back. Blood trickled down his chin and neck.
“Stop it. You’re hurting him,” she yelped.
Ethel moved into the shadows to her left. Nick moved to her right. Four against one.
“That’s the idea,” Buck took a step toward her. Then another.
Kelsey bit her lip, gulping past the knot in her dry throat.
Jess jerked Alex off his feet and tied the rope, leaving him suspended, his boots barely touching the ground. Jess twirled the opposite end of the rope as if it were a lasso, grinning.
Buck took another step toward her. Closer. “Come to daddy.”
Her gun wavered. She looked from Buck to Jess and back again. Where are Ethel and Nick?
Jess gave Alex a roundhouse kick that sent him spinning.
Buck crouched like he was ready to run.
A single shot blasted from the gun in her hand.
Jess dropped dead.
Alex
“Daddy!” Abby squealed with delight. Alex lifted his baby girl high over his head, her light golden hair spilling around his face as she squirmed in his hands. His only thought was how much he loved her.
“You’re an airplane, baby girl.” He twirled her around in a big circle so she could feel the breeze beneath her.
She laughed with that sweet voice, clinging to his hands on her waist, her golden hair nothing but ribbons of sunshine in the breeze. “I’m flying. I’m flying.” She giggled down at him with smiling blue eyes. “Look at me, Daddy. I’m flying.”
“Not for long. Now you’re landing.” He deposited his fairy princess aircraft on the soft grass at the park. Other kids played on the swing or the slide, but Abby wanted to play with her daddy. She wrestled, pretending he was a dinosaur come to life and she wanted to ride his back. And then he was her pony. Abby could get so rowdy. Alex smiled as he remembered. She was not always a dainty little princess.
“I’m a cowboy.” Her laughter was sunshine to his heart.
“You mean, you’re a cowgirl.”
“No, Daddy. I’m a cow–boy.” She bounced a little harder until Alex rolled over. Down she came, still bouncing and giggling. As he hugged her close, Abby snuggled under his chin. She hugged him hard with all her strength, her soft baby hair spilling over his face. He loved the smell of baby shampoo. And then he felt them. Butterfly kisses. He relaxed, her warm tender body pressed against his heart while Abby blessed him with sweet, eyelash kisses on his cheek.
Too soon she
jumped to her feet. With a giggle she was out of his arms, running away as she grinned over her shoulder. “Look at me, Daddy. I have to go. You have to stay.”
He reached for her, but Abby faded right before his eyes. He touched nothing as he grasped after the tiny hand he had just felt around his neck. She disappeared. All he heard was her sweet voice in the air. “Look, Daddy. Find her, Daddy. Find her.”
The grass and ground of the park disappeared beneath him into a gaping black hole. He was falling, falling ….
Alex fell from heaven with a thud. The solid ground beneath him felt like the stings of a thousand cuts. A man’s voice talked to him from very far away.
“Hey, boss, I’ve got you now. You’re going to be okay.”
Alex knew that voice. He just couldn’t remember who it belonged to. Someone held a bottle to his lips. The cool water felt good running down his neck, but then that same someone held his head steady, and eased a trickle between his lips. Drop by drop, it made its way down his parched throat. His head pounded so fierce, he couldn’t think with the smell of baby shampoo still in his nose.
“Abby,” he croaked, barely loud enough to hear himself. “I want Abby.”
Whoever helped him was thankfully persistent with the water. More water and finally, he swallowed enough to moisten his tongue and throat.
“Hey, Boss.” Alex heard that familiar voice again. “I don’t know about Abby. I only know about Kelsey.”
Kelsey. Her name burst into his brain. Jerked back to reality, his heart screamed for her. Kelsey.
“Where is she?” He turned toward the familiar man, but he either didn’t hear him or chose not to answer. Instead, gentle hands loosened the ropes that circled his wrists. They moved over his arms and shoulders, firmly feeling and diagnosing as they went. The man muttered quietly. His hand felt kind and gentle until—
“Sorry, Boss. This is gonna hurt.” With a quick jerk, he pulled Alex’s right arm down to the normal position at his side.
Sonofabitch. He shuddered at the pain. Black waves of unconsciousness threatened to take over. He had barely caught his breath when the same procedure was repeated with his other arm. Whoever’d just saved him was torturing him now. It took all the strength he had left not to black out.
Once again the man said, “Sorry about that, Boss.”
A warm, wet tongue lapped Alex’s face.
“Whisper. Off,” the man said, and immediately, Whisper’s tongue withdrew.
He groaned in as much confusion as pain. What the hell? My dogs are here? What’s going on? Where’s Abby? Kelsey? Am I delirious? Dying maybe?
More shuffling sounded around him, and the unknown man set something soft beneath his head. He gave Alex more water. Finally, he knew the voice.
“Harley?” He croaked the question. I’ve lost my mind. I really am dying.
“Yeah, Boss. It’s me. You’re coming around. I can hear you now. Good. You’re gonna be okay.” Harley patted his chest very carefully. “You’re pretty beat up. Looks like someone cut you up a little, but I’ve got you now. You’re going to be okay.”
“You gotta get Kelsey.”
“Working on it, Boss. You’re gonna be okay. You need to hold still though. Help is on its way, but I’m trying to stop some of this bleeding.” Harley’s voice was calm. Too calm.
“Listen.” Alex tired to command. “You tell me I’m gonna be okay one more time, and I’ll—” A spasm of breath stopping coughing intervened. He spat the blood out of his mouth, the taste sweet, salty, full of copper and bile.
Once again Harley did not hear or did not choose to listen. His hands were on Alex’s chest were too gentle and too kind. Taping. Pressing. Bandaging. “Hold still, Boss. I need you to stay still so I can bandage your back.”
Alex lay heavy on the ground, laboring to suck in enough air just to talk. “You’ve got to find her.”
“I will in a minute. Honest, I will. I promise.” Despite his words, Harley continued bandaging with steady hands. “Can you tell me what happened?”
At that point Alex was angry. “Get me the hell up.” He tried to rise, but pain skewered him into the ground. Another fit of coughing left him gasping for air and weaker still.
Harley wiped Alex’s mouth and chin with a cloth. “Boss, I’m sorry, but you aren’t going anywhere. I need you to lie still so you don’t make things worse. Your bleeding to death isn’t going to help anyone.”
“Stop patting my sonofabitchin arm.” Alex gasped, but he also heard the gentleness in Harley’s voice. Damn. I’m in bad shape. “They mean to kill her,” he huffed.
“Who, Boss? Who’s got Kelsey?” Harley continued with his first aid as patiently as a parent with a demanding child. At least he listened this time.
“Durrant. Her ex. He’s got a couple others with him.” Alex looked toward Harley’s voice. He thought of Kelsey. If they had done this to him, what were they doing to her?
“You need a lot more help, Boss. I need to finish what I’m doing here before you—”
“No. No.” Alex writhed in frustration. “Save her. Not me.”
Harley stopped what he was doing. “It’s the middle of the night, Boss. She’ll be hard to find. They’ve got ATVs and a head start. Hell, they burned your ATV. They could be in the next state by now. Even if I do find her—”
“Harley. Please.” Alex couldn’t see and he could barely talk. All he had left was heart. It must’ve been enough. Without a deep sigh, Harley stood. Alex thought maybe he had left, but the man returned with a blanket. He covered Alex and crouched alongside, his hand firm on Alex’s shoulder.
“You’ve got an open bottle of water and your SIG at your right hand. I know you might not be able to reach it, but just in case.”
Alex strained to listen.
“I’m leaving Smoke. He’ll stay with you until search and rescue gets here.”
“Go,” Alex commanded hoarsely.
Harley sighed.
“Please go.” Alex felt something warm trickle down his cheek. Blood or tears, they were all the same.
“Yep.” Harley stood. “You stay put and wait for them, you hear me? Don’t go dying on me.”
Alex heard the pain in Harley’s voice. This would be the last time they ever talked to each other. Harley had to understand.
“I love her,” he whispered.
“I know,” Harley replied gently. “Whisper. Come.” This time he walked away.
Alex shuddered, the pain of all he stood to lose more than he could bear. Kelsey. Maybe Harley now, too. He had to know.
“Where … you been?” Alex shook beneath the blanket. He heard his voice—old, weak, and dying.
The quiet answer came from the edge of the trees. “Rehab, Boss.”
Twenty
Kelsey
Kelsey opened her eyes. She was bound and gagged, tied to the back roll bar of Buck’s ATV, and headed away from the cabin. Shooting Jess had surprised her as much as everyone else. She had gotten another shot off before Nick and Buck tackled her, but it went wild, and giving herself up didn’t help Alex like she had hoped. They had kicked and cut him anyway, then slapped her around and tore her shirt off. Down to just her bra and jeans, she knew the worst was yet to come. She bit her lip, fighting the urge to cry. His words came back to her. It’s not the load that breaks you down. It’s how you learn to carry it.
The reality of the brutality she had just witnessed battled her last shred of hope. There was no way Alex could help her tonight, but he had rescued her so many times in the past year. She clung to irrational optimism. Somehow he would find a way. She knew it.
At last, the ATV stopped. Buck jerked her out off the back and dropped her against a tree like a bag of potatoes. With a few quick twists of a rope, he tied a noose around her neck and then to the tree. She wasn’t going anywhere with her hands tied behind her back and her ankles tied, too. Kelsey didn’t see it coming. He slapped her hard, the rings on his fingers sharp on her cheekbone. He had knocked
the breath right out of her.
“You killed my brother.” He hit her again, his face mean and hard in the ATV’s headlights.
She shook. Nick had hit her before, but this felt different. The blood pouring from her nose and down her chest chilled her, but the hard look on Buck’s face filled her with paralyzing fear. Nick was mean, but Buck was cruel. And she knew the difference. She gulped, prepared for another slap, but Nick charged up to the tree wild eyed and full of – concern?
“Knock it off, Buck. Let her be.”
Kelsey stared dumbfounded at her ex-husband. How odd that he came to my rescue.
“You gonna make me, Durrant?” Buck whirled on Nick, his knife drawn and ready to fight. “You man enough to make me?”
Nick’s hands went up in instant submission. “Just don’t want you killing her too soon, that’s all. We got what we wanted. Let her be.”
“No, we didn’t get what we wanted, you fool. I got five dead men back there and one of them was Jess.” Buck gestured angrily back in the direction of the cabin. “Keep shooting your face off, and there’ll be one more right here, right now.”
Of course Nick backed right down. Kelsey blinked the sweat out of her eyes. Nick wasn’t here to help her. No way.
“And you.” This time Buck leveled an accusing finger at Ethel. “You can’t torture a dead man, you ever think of that? I thought that was the plan, but no. You had to hit him so hard. You nearly took his head off, you dumb bitch.”
Ethel glared at Buck without a word.
“We move at first light,” Buck growled. “Til then, stay the hell outta my way.”
Kelsey lay against the tree trying to catch her breath and listening to the power struggle. When Buck was done threatening and bellowing, he stomped off into the trees. She knew exactly what would happen next. Nick had to prove he was a big man. She was right. Buck was no more than out of sight when Nick strutted toward her, kicking dirt as he came. She was already hurt, and he was only going to hurt her worse, but she wasn’t the same foolish girl he had married. He was going to understand one thing before he killed her. Fear gripped her throat, but strength raised her eyes.
Alex (In the Company of Snipers) Page 22
